Former Steelers Tackle Took Insult With Minkah Fitzpatrick's "Selfish Comments"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a rough spot. They are sitting at 7-6 and after losing two in a row to two 2-10 teams, the Steel City and all of its inhabitants are in turmoil. Fans are calling for heads to roll from the top of the organization to the bottom. Even some current players have made comments regarding their frustrations. Recently, Steelers superstar safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has been embroiled in controversy, highly unusual for the usually quiet defender. His most recent comments did not sit well with a former member of the Black and Gold and he minced no words in explaining it. 

Fitzpatrick recently spoke to the media after the Steelers' loss to the New England Patriots. He was clearly bitter over the loss and implied that not everyone is putting forth equal effort. The safety said that some players think they will win just because they put on a black and gold uniform. He said we need more players who want to work for it, who fight every single down. 

His comments shocked a lot of fans who felt that if a player with a work ethic like Fitzpatrick is saying this, then it must be true. Head Coach Mike Tomlin downplayed Fitzpatrick's comments during his most recent press conference, saying that he believed he was referring to "smiling in the face of adversity." Now one former Steelers offensive lineman, Dee Gray, vented his aggravation to a current teammate, Spencer Anderson, on Grays' podcast, Protect The Shell. 

"As a team, you can't put your teammates down like that. You can't be saying, 'somebody' on this team, because now it makes the world think, 'Who's he talking about?' Who knows? He could have been talking about himself, he could have been talking about the person that cleans the building up every day, he could have been talking about anybody. But the fact is that you got people thinking there's something going on in the locker room, that people are not giving full effort. I think with a leader like him, I don't think Mink should have said that. He should have kept that comment to himself in protection of you guys," complained Gray.

Gray and Anderson both attended the University of Maryland where they overlapped for a year. Gray was a seventh-round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2019. He stayed primarily on the practice squad for two seasons before being claimed off waivers by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Gray feels very strongly that comments from Fitzpatrick wouldn't have been tolerated by the teams he played on. 

"That was a selfish comment by himself. It's a team thing, it's not somebody out here rolling the ball. My first thing is to Mink, how could you have got better? You talking somebody else isn't doing something right, somebody else is rolling the ball. What could you add? Did you get a pick Thursday night? Did you make any big hits? I don't know. Did you? What could you have done better? Me personally, on teams I've played with, that ain't going down. Ain't nobody going to the media. That's one thing you don't do, go to the media and talk about your teammates," added Gray.

Of course, many of the guys who played with Gray are still on the team. For his part, Anderson took the hint and did not add on. He said that no one on the team took offense to the comments. He also said that Fitzpatrick is a leader of the team and because he so rarely speaks out, when he does, players listen. According to him, no one on the team really talked about the comments.  

It may not have been the right thing for Fitzpatrick to do, but his comments only echoed the sentiments of fans who feel like only some of the players are giving it their all. At times, it does feel like there is a lack of effort and accountability for the way the team has been performing. 

Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick's Name Keeps Coming Up

The recent comments aren't the only controversy that Fitzpatrick has been involved in this season. After the Steelers dropped a loss to a decimated Cleveland Browns team, Fitzpatrick got into an altercation with wide receiver Diontae Johnson. Johnson is well known for voicing his frustrations over his lack of targets to everyone and anyone who will listen. 

After watching Johnson "chirping" at the coaching staff during the game and then continuing to complain as they headed to the locker room, Fitzpatrick apparently had enough and confronted Johnson. The two nearly came to blows and had to be separated by T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward. 

Then after Pittsburgh lost to the Arizona Cardinals during Week 13, Fitzpatrick made the news again. This time he expressed his annoyance at the offense not doing enough to win the game. To be fair, the game was a complete disaster. There was penalty after penalty, and while the defense wasn't perfect, it played well enough to keep them in the game until they couldn't. 

What do you think about Gray's comments on Fitzpatrick? Do you believe Anderson's comments about how no one said anything or took offense? Click to comment below! 

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